UN owes India $50 mn in dues

Addressing the special committee on peacekeeping operations, Pal said onMonday the United Nations seems to believe that developing countries shouldbe able to provide troops whenever needed but wait for payment forever."This really cannot go on," he said.

India, at present, is the largest contributor to UN’s peacekeepingoperations with 1,745 soldiers, 226 policemen and 27 observers serving withvarious missions around the world.

Over the years, more than 50,000 Indians have served on 31 peacekeepingmissions in all the continents underlining the country’s commitment to worldpeace, the Indian representative exhorted. The primary reason for delay inreimbursements to troop contributing countries, Pal said, is withholding ofassessed contributions by member states.

"We hope those who have defaulted in the past will, as they must under thecharter, pay their assessed contributions in full, on time and without anycondition and clear up their arrears," he said.

"If they do not, the backlog of payments for the larger missions now beingset up, compounded by accrued arrears, will bring us rapidly to a crisis,"Pal warned.

He also expressed the fear the UN might borrow from peacekeeping operationsto finance regular budget activity to meet the shortfall created by delay inpayment of dues.

"This cross borrowing has delayed not just reimbursements but even currentpayments and is completely unacceptable to troop contributors," the Indianrepresentative said.

The United States is a major defaulter and the Congress has sought to laydown conditions for paying the arrears including reduction in itscontribution to peacekeeping costs from 31 per cent to 25 per cent. The USalso wants its contribution to regular budget be reduced from 25 per cent toaround 20 per cent.

Pal said developing countries should have more say in the mandate that themissions are given.

The UN assesses the payment required from each state when a new mission isset up on the basis of a formula agreed to by the members. This is inaddition to the payment required for the regular budget.